I Prefer to Drink Alone
by misspatchesmom
Summary: Ziva storms out of NCIS after an argument with Abby about feelings; she heads for her favorite bar. Tony as team leader decides to find her and make things right. Set between seasons 3 and 4. Part of the 'You Complete Me" universe.


I Prefer to Drink Alone

_Ziva storms out of NCIS after an argument with Abby about feelings; she heads for her favorite bar. Tony as team leader decides to find her and make things right. Set between seasons 3 and 4._

Ziva brushed past Tony on her way to the elevators. He was about to say something to her, but the fire in her eyes stopped him. She slammed her fist on the elevator button and waited impatiently for the doors to open. The car was empty; something she was glad to see. She stepped between the silver doors and punched the ground floor button. She looked up as the doors slid closed to see the confusion on Tony's face.

She steeled herself; she would not go back today. She just needed to get out of the building and forget the past twenty minutes of her life. She swiped at the corner of her eyes, those were NOT tears forming. The elevator stopped at the ground floor and she quickly exited and headed to the main entrance.

"Good night, Officer David!" Jerry at the security desk waved to her. She waved back giving him a small tight-lipped smile and strode out into the fresh air. Once at her car, she decided to walk to the bar down the street where the team often went to unwind from a case.

~TONY~

Inside, Tony was still trying to figure out exactly what had happened to put Ziva in such a foul mood. He noticed McGee sitting at his computer and walked over to the probie's desk.

"McGee, do you have any idea what's got Ziva's panties all twisted?" Tony inquired. "Did you do something to piss her off?"

"No, Tony; not me. Last I knew she was headed down to see Abby about the evidence we brought in yesterday. Have you talked to Abbs?"

"Not yet; thanks," Tony headed to the elevator to pay a visit to the forensics lab. Hopefully he would get some answers from the Goth. He arrived at the lower floor to the sound of heavy metal blaring from the lab. Not a good sign, because Abby usually had the volume cranked up when she was angry or upset.

Tony approached the lab entrance cautiously, looking around for the Goth. He spotted her near Major MasSpec, tapping her foot impatiently. The scowl on her face nearly made him turn around to leave. He took a deep breath and steeled himself as he walked through the lab doors.

"Hey, Abbs, what do you got?" he tried to shout over the heavy metal. Abby looked at him and held up a finger. He nodded and put his fingers to his temple. If he had to listen to too much more of the music, his headache was going to be killer.

A light flashed on the mass spectrometer, and the Goth read the screen. She picked up a remote and silenced the sounds of Grey Matter, her favorite band at the moment.

"Hi, Tony, what can I do for you?" she chirped.

"Came to see if you got anything for me from yesterday's evidence," he explained.

Abby frowned, "I gave that to Ziva an hour ago. Right before…" She stopped mid-sentence and turned away from the temporary team leader. She shuffled some papers on the lab bench and tried to avoid making eye contact with Tony.

"Abby," Tony warned, "Tell me what happened."

"Um, nothing, um…" the forensics specialist hemmed and hawed. Tony waited; he knew she would eventually spill the beans. Abby picked up a piece of paper, "Here's the report I gave to Ziva." She offered the page to the SFA/team leader, not looking up.

"Thanks; now spill!"

Abby swallowed hard, "I um; we um; Ziva and I um… Ziva_and_I_had_a_huge_argument_over_feelings_ or_mostly_her_lack_of_emotions…"

"Whoa, slow down, Abby! I get that you two argued. What caused the argument?" Tony pulled a Caf*POW from behind his back as he spoke.

"Ziva said something about Gibbs not caring that we were all missing him while he's retired in Mexico, and I got mad. I told her she wasn't one to talk about feelings. I called her an ice girl…"

Tony sighed, "And you didn't THINK before blurting out something like that? Abby, you can't just say whatever pops into your head without filtering it first. Ziva does have feelings and she hurts just like the rest of us over Gibbs' leaving. She just doesn't show it to the world.

"Well thanks for telling me…" He now had another mess to clean up, thanks to careless words from the Goth. He put the Caf*POW on the lab bench and strode out of the lab. At least this altercation had not involved slapping like the last one. He was still annoyed that he missed that whole scene and Probie had been an eye witness.

"For what it's worth, I did tell her that I was sorry as she stormed out…" Abby shouted to Tony's back. By the time the elevator doors opened, the loud heavy metal beats were thumping through the lab doors again.

~ZIVA~

At the bar, Ziva sat at the far end of the counter with her back to a wall. She had a half-empty glass of beer and an almost empty mojito sitting in front of her. A guy in jeans and a tight-fitting tee shirt approached and sat at the stool next to Ziva.

"Buy you another?" he offered.

Ziva shot him a glare, "No thank you. I prefer to drink alone." She gave him her best killer stare and he quickly retreated back to the table with his friends. She really did not want to talk to anyone, to be with anyone tonight. She would drink until the pain was dulled and then go for a run or to the gym to work out. Once she was physically exhausted and emotionally numb, she would go home and collapse on her bed in hopes of gaining a few hours of sleep.

~TONY~

Tony stormed out of the elevator; the glare he shot McGee was enough to ensure the younger man's silence instead of the questions Tony could see in his face and eyes. Tim quickly looked at his monitor and watched the SFA/team leader out of the corner of his eye.

Tony shut down his computer, gathered his things into his backpack and strode back to the elevator without a word. He abruptly turned around and grabbed Ziva's backpack from behind her desk and then disappeared into the elevator. Once inside the metal box, he sighed. He should have been nicer to Tim; it wasn't his fault that Abby had pissed off Ziva.

In entry lobby, Jerry waved good night, "See you tomorrow, Agent DiNozzo!" Tony looked up from his thoughts.

"Hey, Jerry, did Officer David come through here yet tonight?"

The older man nodded, "Yeah, she left about thirty minutes ago; thought she was going to her car, but she walked out towards the street."

"Thanks, Jerry," Tony saluted the guard and headed out to the parking area. He put the two backpacks into his car and glanced over at Ziva's parking spot. Her red Mini was sitting in its usual spot; he moved over to the car and felt the hood. Cold.

He thought about possible directions and destinations that Ziva could have taken and decided to check out the two bars that the team favorited. He drove the three blocks to the city parking lot between the two watering holes. The Draft Depot was closest, about a half a block walk north. He locked the backpacks in his trunk and headed to the bar.

Inside, he stood slightly to the side of the entrance, allowing his eyes to adjust to the bar lighting. He glanced around, not seeing anyone he knew.

"Hey, Tony!" Harry called out to the agent from behind the bar. "The usual?"

Tony slid onto a bar stool, "Not tonight, Harry. I'm looking for Ziva. Is she here or has she been here?"

"Nope, haven't seen her. I got here about an hour ago. She hasn't been in since I've been on."

"Thanks, man," Tony left a ten dollar bill on the counter and left. He walked the three blocks south to The Bald Friar, a bar, sports bar, restaurant, and karaoke joint. He spotted Ziva he minute he walked in. she was sitting with her back against a partition at the far end of the bar staring into a tall glass of something, most likely alcoholic. Tony moved along the row of bar stools, passing several tables with groups of three or four people.

He was about five feet away from Ziva, eyes on her, when one of the people at the table closest to her intercepted him.

"She ain't in the mood for company," the guy smelled of beer as he got in Tony's way.

"I know her," Tony tried to push past the guy.

"Good luck!"

Tony slid onto the bar stool next to Ziva. She barely acknowledged his presence with a sideways glance. He motioned to the bartender.

"I would rather be alone," Ziva commented as the bar tender started in their direction. "I do not need you to babysit me, Tony."

"Okay, I'm not babysitting you, Ziva. I'm just a friend sharing a drink," Tony tried to make eye contact, but she looked back into her glass. He placed his drink order with the bartender and Ziva motioned for another of what she had been drinking.

As they waited for the bartender to bring their drinks, Ziva fidgeted with the glass in her hand. She turned it around between her hands, drank the last of the beverage, and then turned it some more.

"I will listen if you want to talk," Tony said softly, so that only she could hear his words. Ziva acted as if she hadn't heard his words, but he knew she had from one of her tells. She blinked rapidly several times before lifting her drink to her lips. She emptied the mojito in one big gulp.

"Nother one," she put the glass on the bar top with a thud. She raised her left hand to get the bartender's attention. She turned to Tony, "I DO haf feelin's…"

Tony watched as the newest drink was also downed in one gulp. "Ziva, slow down! You're going to make yourself sick and drunk. You're already slurring your words."

"I am not slurring my words, I am speaking in cursive," Ziva locked her eyes with Tony as she replied. "I do have feelings; Abby is wrong. I just…"

"You don't show them very well," Tony put his hand on hers as she tried to signal the bartender again. "Come on, Ziva, let's get you home."

Surprisingly, she did not try to remove his hand from hers, nor did she object to leaving. Tony silently thanked the universe for the good karma. Now to get her safely home. He led Ziva out to his car and helped her into the passenger seat. She tried to buckle the seat belt, but seemed to have trouble. He reached over and helped her click the latch.

As he drove, he watched Ziva out of the corner of his eye. She was staring straight ahead, seemingly lost in thought. He stopped for a traffic light; she sighed loudly. He stayed silent; he knew that if he waited long enough, she'd open up. He started forward as the light changed.

"Do you think I am a cold person, Tony?"

"No, Ziva; but I see a side of you that no one else does. You don't let the guard down at work."

"It is how I have been trained; do the job, no emotions. But it does not mean that things do not get to me; I just…" Ziva sighed again and Tony glanced over to see a single tear slide down her cheek. He stopped at the next traffic signal and reached over to brush the tear away.

"It's okay to cry or show emotion, you know," he touched her cheek softly, wiping the tear with his thumb.

"Oh, this coming from a man who jokes instead to hide emotion," Ziva laughed. "You are calling the pan black."

"Pot; pot calls the kettle black."

"Still; you telling me to show my emotions is rather ironic is it not?" Ziva smirked at him as he pulled into the parking spot for her apartment. She opened the car door and he helped her out, noticing that she was just slightly unsteady enough for him to stay by her side.

She unlocked the door, and he turned to leave. "No, please stay," she put her hand on his arm.

"Ziva, you are drunk, or at least impaired. I am not going to take advantage of that," Tony wanted to set some ground rules quickly.

"Okay; just come on in. Now I would rather not be alone, if that is okay with you," she again put her hand on his arm and locked her gaze on his. He nodded slowly as she kicked the door closed behind them. "Good, because I think I need…"

Tony wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him. She put her arms around him, almost clinging to his torso.

"Toda, this is nice… Just hold me for a few minutes, please…" she sighed into his chest.

"Anything you want…" he whispered into her hair before placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head. "Anything at all."


End file.
